Donald Trump says 'angry' NBC execs tried to change his mind about leaving 'Apprentice' to run for president

Donald Trump hosted "The Apprentice" and "Celebrity Apprentice" for 14 seasons.
NBC
Donald Trump wants everyone to know that he quit NBC and wasn't fired as some reports claim. In fact, the currently leading Republican presidential candidate said that the network's big guns tried to convince him not to run.

"The primary tension I had was that they wanted me to do 'The Apprentice,' and they were very angry that I didn't do it," Trump told The Hollywood Reporter. "And that was more important than 'Miss Universe' by far, because 'The Apprentice' has higher numbers. I read a story two weeks ago from somebody that didn't understand, where they said 'NBC cut ties with Trump.' They didn't cut ties with me, I cut ties with them out of respect. But they were very upset."

Donald Trump's first magazine cover of his presidential run.The Hollywood Reporter
According to the real estate mogul, NBC's head honchos approached him two months before he announced his intent to run for U.S. president and made remarks about Mexican immigrants that would lead to NBC cutting ties with him in late-June.

Trump recalled in the THR interview: "The top people from [NBCUniversal's parent company] Comcast, [NBCUniversal CEO] Steve Burke and [NBC reality chief] Paul Telegdy came up to see me two months before I announced I was running, and they wanted me to do another two seasons of 'The Apprentice.' [Executive producer] Mark Burnett would call me constantly. I love Mark, special guy, and he said, 'Donald, you're turning down a primetime renewal. Do you know what you're doing?' I said, 'Mark, I want to [run for president].'"